This Dream Of You

These 2016-2017 sessions were done around the same time as Turn Up the Quiet but left unfinished following the death of Diana Krall’s longtime collaborator and coproducer Tommy LiPuma. Taking over the production herself, Krall returned to the material and completed This Dream of You as a kind of posthumous LiPuma tribute, with the titular Bob Dylan cover as a centerpiece. Krall on piano, with that low and dusky voice and swinging delivery, mixes it up with a varied cast in different ensemble configurations, and the blend of personalities is rich. At the heart of it is Krall’s quartet with guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist John Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton. They’re heard with lush string ensemble backing (Alan Broadbent, arranger) on the leadoff “But Beautiful,” but also in a snappier small-group vein on “That’s All,” “Almost Like Being in Love,” and the closing “Singing in the Rain.” Similarly, Krall enlists bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone for the string-enhanced “Autumn in New York” as well as the sparser trio ballad “There’s No You.” She yields the piano bench to Broadbent on the intimate piano/vocal duets “More Than You Know” and “Don’t Smoke in Bed” and joins bassist Clayton for the swinging duo romp “I Wished on the Moon.” The title track, the vintage uptempo swinger “Just You, Just Me,” and the dark bolero rendering of Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is the Ocean” feature the album’s most strikingly heterogeneous lineup: modern fiddler Stuart Duncan, avant-jazz guitarist Marc Ribot, longtime Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, and jazz drummer/hip-hop producer Karriem Riggins.